More Crisp and Cozy Christmas Cards with the Cool Yule Polar Bears

Remember these adorable polar bear stamps from Impression Obsession? I can't stop making cards with these cuties! Today' I've got two more handmade Christmas and winter card ideas for you featuring the Cool Yule clear stamp set. 

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It's perfect timing for these friendly bears, because it's Theme Day on the Impression Obsession blog, and our theme is WINTER! On the IO blog, you'll find a list of all the designers sharing winter card ideas today. 

For both of today's cards, I created snowy winter scenes. On the first card, I simply used the perfect piece of patterned paper to create a snowy sky. The pale aqua is so light and breezy and the white dots make the perfect snowflakes. I added a snowy hill from the Wave Edges dies - I always love it when a die set pulls double duty. I use these dies a lot during the summer, but this particular "wave" makes the perfect snowy hill as well. 

For today's second card, I created a snowy background using a die called Snowfall. It's like a mini-background die, and it creates such a sweet subtle background, cut from white cardstock and layered on a white background. Next, I layered that same trusty Wave Edges die to add a snowy hill, plus a simple strip of light blue cardstock to be the ice our polar bear is skating on.

The stamped images from the Cool Yule stamp set are pretty easy to fussy cut, and they're also simple to color using markers, colored pencils or watercolor. I stuck with alcohol markers on these cuties, just to add some details. I love the way these polar bears lend themselves to clean and simple card ideas, and I've really had fun playing with them!

Be sure to stop by the Impression Obsession blog for a list of designers participating in our Winter Theme Day. Can I tempt you to check out a few other things too? 

• Impression Obsession has a pretty awesome sale section on their website. But in particular, their assortment of discontinued clear stamp sets has some amazing deals. Scoop up THE cutest clear stamp sets for $8.00 each. IO sells the highest quality clear photopolymer stamps, and I am a total stamp snob, so you can trust my recommendation! 
• To coordinate with our winter theme, there's also a curated collection of winter themed stamps and dies on sale through November 14th, so be sure to check out the winter sale section HERE!
• If you like what you've seen on my blog today, subscribe to receive my blog posts emailed to you, so you never miss a cute card! 

Shop the Supplies on Today's Cards:

Cool Yule Clear Stamp Set

Wave Edges Dies

Snowfall Die

If you enjoyed today's cards featuring Cool Yule, be sure to check out this blog post with more card ideas with these sweet polar bears!

3 Warm and Cozy Card Ideas With Polar Bears

Meet Winter Girl and Her Snowcap Snowman!

 Check out these sweet snowy friends!! The Winter Girl and Snowcap Snowman stamps from Impression Obsession were perfect for a card making challenge theme . . .SNOWMEN! 

This blog post contains affiliate links. When you shop through my links I receive compensation at no cost to you. Thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

The cardmaking challenges on the Impression Obsession blog are a great way to get your crafty mojo going. Each month we have a theme and when you link up your cards featuring IO stamps and dies, you'll earn the chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the shop!

To coordinate with this month's challenge, SNOWMEN, you'll find a great array of snowman themed stamps and dies 25% off in the Impression Obsession shop - just in case you need to add a new snowy friend to your stash. (There are some SUPER cute ones!) Check out the snowman sale HERE. 

This cutie, Snowcap Snowman is part of the Snowman sale, and I just think he has the sweetest smile! I colored him and his friend, Winter Girl, with colored pencils. After fussy cutting them I added them to a super simple card base with some snowy hills. 

I would absolutely LOVE to see you playing along with us for this month's Impression Obsession challenge. Stop by the IO blog to see all of the designers getting you started, and then add your link with a snowman card. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today - I hope it's cozy and crafty wherever you are. Even in Florida it's chilly this week so I'm enjoying a hot cup of cocoa and a cozy sweater while I craft. 

Supplies on Today's Card:

Snowcap Snowman Stamp - 25% off!

Winter Girl Stamp

Warm Wishes Stamp

Color Burst Pure Color Pencils 

(these pencils from Spellbinders + FSJ are my absolute favorite and they're half off right now!)

Give Thanks Challenge: Elegant Gold Thank You Card

Hey there, my crafty friends! We seem to be right in the middle of November already (anyone know how we got here all the sudden?) Every day is a great day for a thank you card, but in this season of thankfulness they take center stage. Today I have a simple and elegant thank you card with gold embossing. There are two - maybe three, things that pack an extra PUNCH on this handmade fall card. Can you guess what they are? 

This blog post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through my links I receive compensation at no cost to you. Thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

We'll only use two stamps on this card, but a busy dotted background paired with a bold sentiment make a BIG impact. To create this card, start with a kraft card base and a polka dot background stamp or stencil. The Cover-a-Card Large Dots stamp is one of Impression Obsession's great background stamps. It's 5.75x5.75 inches so it will be large enough for all of your projects. I embossed it in gold. I am always partial to polka dots, but any background stamp you love would probably look terrific on this card design. If you didn't guess, a bold background is the FIRST thing that makes this card POP. 

TIP: If you have a polka dot stencil or embossing folder, that would be another great direction to go. I'm always going to share the products I love, (and tell you why I think you NEED them - wink wink) but I also want you to use what you have too! 

In addition to the bold dotted background, the second thing that MAKES this card POP is the big, bold sentiment. This large script Give Thanks stamp is simply gorgeous no matter how you use it. For this card, I embossed it in gold onto dark brown cardstock and then fussy cut it. There isn't a coordinating die for this stamp but if you don't like to cut, you could stamp it onto a die-cut oval or rectangle. It also stamps beautifully onto a one-layer card.  

As I thought about this card, I decided the third thing that really packs a punch on this card is the embossing. It looks so stunning when the light hits it. I love the contrast of embossing on dark cardstock and it makes the sentiment the star of the show on this card. But I love the slightly more subtle look of the gold dots on kraft cardstock too. If I used a more contrasting background color, I think it all would have been too much. But this works, don't you think? 

Today's blog post is part of the latest challenge on the Impression Obsession blog. Our theme is. . . . .you guessed it, GIVE THANKS. Craft up your own card using Impression Obsession goodies and link it up on the IO blog for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the shop. Stop by the blog today for more details and to see what the other designers created!

Also, you have a few more days to score a great deal on stamps and dies for your fall Thanksgiving and thank you cards. Click to see the entire selection of sale items around the Give Thanks theme. (You can grab the sentiment stamp I used today for a pretty fab deal!) 

Supplies Used on Today's Card:

Give Thanks

Cover-a-Card Large Dots
 (5.75x5.75-in. stamp)

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Drink In the Summer with Impression Obsession

Well hello there my crafty peeps! I'm already thinking about Christmas cards and holiday projects (because, why not?!) but I'm still having fun making summertime projects at the same time. Today begins a new challenge on the Impression Obsession blog, and the theme is Summer Fun, so I pulled out my trusty favorite summertime stamp set and did a little crafting! Are you ready to take a look at some colorful summer cards? 

This blog post contains affiliate links. When you shop through my links, I may receive compensation at no cost to you. Thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!
Good Old Summertime is a set I've turned to again and AGAIN this summer! The sweet images are so fun to mix and match for handmade cards! On the first card, I stuck with the DRINKS (YUM) and paired them with the perfect sentiment "Drink in the Summertime". I used watercolor pencils to color this tasty rainbow of beverages, and then added some glaze and glitter to add some extra sparkle.
The background of this card is a Gel Press print that I made using some summery shades of liquid ink, blended together. I really like the contrast of the black and white patterns from paper and washi tape too - but then again, I'm always a sucker for bright colors paired with black and white! 

Up next, the same stamp set but a TOTALLY different look and technique! For this card I wanted to make a stamped background of all the cute images in this set. To make it easy, I used one medium size clear block and I fit as many stamps on as I could. This takes a little bit of trial and error and stamping on scrap paper to make sure everything is straight and spaced out evenly, but the work is worth it - because then it only took about four impressions to stamp all of these small images onto my cardstock panel. I used markers to color these images in and finished it off with the HELLO SUMMER sentiment. 

Alright my sweet, crafty peeps. Now it's your turn! Dig through your stash of Impression Obsession stamps and dies, and see what you have that works for the challenge, Summer Fun. Then link it up at the IO blog because you might just win a gift certificate to the shop! Over on the blog, you'll also find a list of the design team members who are sharing some fresh summer fun to kick off the challenge. 

Don't have any Impression Obsession stamps and dies? I hate to be an enabler, but you really should check out their shop - every time I look, I see something I never noticed before. They have a HUGE selection, in EVERY style and theme! (#sorrynotsorry) Plus, their sale section is AMAZING right now. There are tons of cute clear stamp sets on sale for $7.50! Whaaaat!?

Impression Obsession Supplies on Today's Card:

Good Old Summertime Clear Stamp Set

Cute Scalloped Rectangles

Sweet Summer Blooms: Impression Obsession Challenge

Hello crafty friends! Today begins a new card making challenge on the Impression Obsession blog. Our theme is Summer Flowers - and Impression Obsession has no shortage of AMAZING floral stamps, so I've pulled out a few summery floral cards  that I haven't shared with you yet. Let's take a peek!

This blog post contains affiliate links. When you shop through my links I receive compensation at no cost to you. Thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

I began this first card by  stamping a sentiment right in the center of the card. Then I fussy cut some flowers from colored cardstock, and began to lay them around the sentiment in a wreath shape. Before gluing them down, I stamped leaves and branches onto the card base and adhered the fussy-cut flowers on top. I just LOVE the way this turned out. And isn't that sentiment just lovely for anyone who's having a rough day/week/month/year? 

It's a tiny detail, but one of the things I love about this card is the tiny stamped dots here and there. What a great detail stamp that is for a sweet finishing touch. I combined images from both the Flower Bits stamp set and the Flora & Fauna stamp set on this card. They complement each other so well, I find myself mixing the two sets together every time!

Next, here's a card using the same two stamp sets in a different way.  On the card below, I simply stamped flowers off the edges of a cardstock panel and then colored them with colored pencils. Both of today's cards are flat and simple to mail. After all, that's the most important part of cardmaking . . .getting the cards to the people we love! 

Alright my sweet, crafty peeps. Now it's your turn! Dig through your stash of Impression Obsession stamps and dies, and see what you have that works for the challenge, Summer Flowers. Then link it up at the IO blog because you might just win a gift certificate to the shop! Over on the blog, you'll also find a list of the design team members who are sharing some floral summer blooms to kick off the challenge. 

Don't have any Impression Obsession stamps and dies? I hate to be an enabler, but you really should check out their shop - every time I look, I see something I never noticed before. They have a HUGE selection, in EVERY style and theme! (#sorrynotsorry) Plus, their sale section is AMAZING right now. There are tons of cute clear stamp sets on sale for $7.50! Whaaaat!?

Supplies Used on Today's Cards:

Flower Bits clear stamp set 

Flora & Fauna clear stamp set
I'm sorry stamp
Flowers Bloom stamp

If you loved today's cards, be sure to check out more projects with the Flora & Fauna and Flower Bits stamp sets:

Lordy Lordy Look Who's 40! These flower stamps mix and match so perfectly with other stamps! Find this project here: https://lauralooloo.blogspot.com/2020/04/milestone-birthdays-card-ideas-for.html

Make a sweet and simple birthday card set! Find it here:  https://lauralooloo.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-to-make-simple-floral-birthday-card.html

Can You Make a Clean and Simple Birthday Card With Just Two Stamps?

Hello friends! Here's your all-important Crafty Question of the Day: Can you make a card with just two stamps? I could spoil all the fun and just say, "Well yes, DUH, because here it is..." but I won't. Instead, let's take a look at some cards that feature just TWO STAMPS, and see how you can make the ideas your own for simple card making!

This blog post contains affiliate links. If you shop through my links, I receive compensation at no cost to you. Thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

Since you already know the answer, YES you can actually make a card with just two stamps, let's check this out. This sweet trio of candles in the Happy Birthday clear stamp set from Impression Obsession is perfect for this simple idea. It's just one smallish stamp with three candles but by repeating the image it packs a LOT of punch. 

So let me ask you, what stamps do you have in your stash that might pack a BIG PUNCH by repeating them on a card base? You might stamp them straight across the card like this, or you might fill the entire panel with that image. 

Don't you always need some cute birthday cards ready to go? Consider whipping up a whole pile of cards using these simple ideas.  This next card features the same basic layout - a row of stamped images, and a sentiment on a die cut circle.

In this case, I decided to use ink to color my row of gifts. This idea works perfectly if you have a coordinating die for your stamped image. Here's how:

• First, stamp your row of images. (And if you plan to make multiple cards - go ahead and prep to make stack of cards all at once!)
• Then, die cut the coordinating shape from the middle of a cardstock scrap. This will create a pattern, or mask to ink within. (pink cardstock in the photo below)
• Line up your mask over the stamped image, and sponge color over the top. For this card, I made two masks - one for the green/teal inks and one for the yellow/orange/pink, so that the ink buildup on the mask wouldn't get muddy and bleed together as I worked.

Remember, this card only takes TWO STAMPS. (and two dies, if we're being specific!) To finish off this card, I used cardstock dots in coordinating colors. Here's a tip: For flat cards that are easy to mail, this is one of my favorite tricks - use two sizes of hole punches to make a bunch of dots, and glue them on like you would use rhinestones, pearls, or enamel dots. 

Shop the Supplies on Today's Cards:

Birthday Hugs Stamp Set

Happy Birthday clear stamp set (no longer available)

• Have you been to the IO website lately? We are so sad that Impression Obsession will be closing their doors at the end of 2024. Keep shopping the awesome sales, and grab everything on your wish list while you still can! Everything is at least 30% off right now - but check that sale section for steeper sales!

Need some more two-stamp inspiration? Check out this cozy, fall card idea. (You can find the full blog post HERE.) I utilized some patterned paper strips to create the background of this card, but then there's just TWO stamps to finish it off. The sunflower image isn't long enough to cover the whole card, but I stamped it two times next to each other, and then covered up the seam with the die-cut rectangle. Then, a simple sentiment to finish it off!

Looking for more birthday card ideas?

Make 4 birthday cards all at once!

Happy Birthday Card Ideas!

Pin it for later!

links updated 9/30/24